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Sunday, 22 December 2013

Arbitration court
rejects Pakistan objection to diversion of water for power by India in J-K

Tribune News
Service

New Delhi,
December 21

The International
Court of Arbitration (ICA) has upheld India’s right to divert water from the
Kishenganga river for power generation in Jammu and Kashmir.

In its final award
announced at The Hague last evening, the seven-member court, headed by Stephen
M Schwebel, unanimously decided that India must also release a minimum of 9
cumecs of water into the Kishenganga river below the Kishenganga Hydro Electric
Project (KHEP) at all times to maintain the environment downstream.

“This is much lower than the
100 cumecs of natural flow of water that Pakistan wanted to maintain,” MEA
spokesman Syed Akbaruddin noted when asked for his reaction to the final award.

But Islamabad also interpreted
the court verdict as a victory. “The ICA has accepted Pakistan’s right to the
water as a riparian state...the decision will safeguard our water rights,”
Pakistan Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Muhammad Asif was quoted as
saying.

“At any time at which the
daily average flow in the Kishenganga river immediately upstream of the KHEP is
less than 9 cumecs, India shall release 100 per cent of the daily average flow
immediately upstream of the KHEP into the Kishenganga river below the KHEP,”
the court said.

The final award imposes no
further restrictions on the operation of the KHEP, which remains subject to the
provisions of the Indus Waters Treaty.

The court also ruled that
India or Pakistan could seek reconsideration of its decision after a period of
seven years from the first diversion of water.

The Indian spokesman pointed
out that the court, in its partial award delivered in February, had already
upheld New Delhi’s main contention that it has the right to divert waters of
the western rivers, in a non-consumptive manner, for the optimal generation of
power.

“We have received the final
award and the court’s decision on India’s request for clarification last night.
These are technical documents that are being studied in detail by experts,” he
added.

The KHEP is part of a
run-of-the-river hydroelectric scheme that is designed to divert water from
Kishenganga to a power plant in the Jhelum river basin.

The construction of the
project began in 2007 and is expected to be completed by 2016.

The construction of the dam
was halted by the ICA in October 2011 due to Pakistan’s protest of its effect
on the flow of Kishenganga.

Timeline

May 17, 2010: Pak moved for
arbitration against India under the provisions of the Indus Waters Treaty 1960

June 2011: The Court of
Arbitration conducted a site visit

Feb 2012: A court delegation
carried out a second site visit

Aug 20-31, 2012: The
arbitration court held a 2-week hearing

Feb 18, 2013: Partial award
issued

Dec 20, 2013: Final award
upholds India’s right to divert water

Pak stand

Pakistan has claimed that the
Kishenganga project would rob it of 15 per cent of its share of river waters.
It also accused India of trying to divert the river water to harm Pakistan's
Neelum-Jhelum hydel project.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20131222/nation.htm#6

Bhiwani village waits for its martyred son

Deepender Deswal

Tribune News
Service

Bhiwani, December
21

The family of
Dharmesh Sangwan, India’s rowing star and Subedar in the Indian Army, was
eagerly waiting for his scheduled return next month after he was deputed to
strife-torn South Sudan along with the UN peacekeeping forces six months ago.
But now, they are waiting for his body to be flown to his native village —
Kheri Batar in the Dadri subdivision of the district.

Sangwan, 32, was
deployed in South Sudan and was among the two Indian soldiers killed in an
attack on a United Nations compound on Thursday night.

Reports said that
rebels from the second-largest ethnic group, the Nuer, stormed the compound and
targeted their rival ethnic community who had taken refuge at the base camp.

Sangwan and
another soldier, Kumar Pal Singh, suffered bullet injuries in the crossfire
between the two groups that led to their death. He was recruited to the
Rajputana Rifles at the age of 18 years. Later, he adopted rowing as a sport
and emerged as the star performer.

According to
information, he had won gold medals in two different categories at the 2005
Asian Championships in Hyderabad and again bagged the first rowing silver at
Doha Asiad in 2006.

A pall of gloom
has descended on the dusty village located near the Aravali range. The stream
of visitors to his house has not taken a break since the news of his death
reached the village yesterday. Hailing from a modest family of this village,
Dharmesh had excelled in sports.

He was an Asian
Games silver medallist and an Asian Championship gold medal winner.

Village sarpanch
Satbir Singh said that the entire village was proud of the martyrdom of their
son.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20131222/nation.htm#9

Indigenous
anti-missile system to protect Mi-17

Vijay Mohan

Tribune News
Service

Chandigarh,
December 21

The Indian Air
Force’s Mi-17 helicopters are being retrofitted with indigenous composite
armour and anti-missile systems to enhance their protection envelope and
improve their operational capability.

The missile
protection gear, also called counter measure dispensing system (CMDS), has been
developed by state-owned Bharat Dynamics Limited and has undergone flight
trials. These systems work by dispensing flares or metallic chaff to deflect or
“confuse” the heat-seeking sensors or radar receivers of incoming hostile
missiles. Composite armour, developed by the Defence Research and Development
Organisation (DRDO), will replace the existing imported heavy-steel armour,
thereby improving their net payload capacity in high altitude areas like
Ladakh.

One set of
prototype armour panels has undergone successful integration and flight trials
on a Mi-17 1-V version at No.3 Base Repair Depot (BRD) here and the
airworthiness certification process is underway. The modification and
retrofitting of the Mi-17 fleet with the CMDS and composite armour will be
undertaken at 3 BRD here, which is the nodal agency for providing technical
support for Soviet-origin helicopters.

The modification
of Mi-17s with defensive measures is significant because of their tactical
operational role that includes offensive close-air support by mounting rocket
pods and machine guns, carrying out special missions, airborne assaults,
supporting the Special Forces and undertaking logistic support in forward
areas.

The IAF had lost a
Mi-17 along with its crew while undertaking armed missions in high altitude
areas during the 1999 Kargil conflict. Earlier this year, in the first incident
of its kind, an IAF Mi-17 crash landed in Chhattisgarh after it was hit by
ground fire from naxalites. A police radio operator on board was injured by
fire. The IAF began inducting the Mi-17 in 1986, when a total of 53 such
helicopters were ordered from Russia.

The significance

Mi-17s help in tactical operational roles
such as offensive close-air support by mounting rocket pods and machine guns,
carrying out special missions, airborne assaults. They support Special Forces
and undertake logistic support in forward areas

Will replace the existing imported
heavy-steel armour, thereby improving their net payload capacity in high
altitude areas like Ladakh

Srinagar: Indian
Defence Ministry has said that it is difficult to fix a definite time-frame in
which the cases related to rent payable by Army to landowners can be resolved
as different agencies and procedural issues are involved.

There are 125
pending cases of rentals for settlement. The maximum cases relate to frontier
district Kupwara (32), followed by Baramulla (28), Anantnag (17), Budgam (17),
Pulwama (10) Bandipora (7), Ganderbal (7), Srinagar (4), Shopian (2) and one
case pertains to district Kulgam.

State Congress
President Prof Saif-u-Din Soz in a statement issued to CNS has said that
Defence Minister A.K.Antony has assured him that all these cases will be
settled with Army in due course of time.

According to Soz,
the Defence Minister has assured him that the Army would settle all the
remaining cases of rent, as early possible.

“He (Defence Minister) has
also said that whenever there is delay, it is due to procedural factors.
Settlement of these 125 cases involves various agencies including the State
government authorities. Continuous liaison is made with the State government
authorities for expeditious settlement of these cases. As different agencies
and procedural issues are involved, it is difficult to fix a definite
time-frame in which the cases can be resolved, the statement reads. (CNS)

Four months after
a failed attempt, India’s indigenously developed Pinaka Mark-II rocket system
was successfully tested from a defence base off the Odisha coast. At least six
rockets were fired from a multi-barrel rocket launcher (MBRL) from
Chandipur-on-sea on Thursday.

Defence sources said
the rockets were test fired from the testing range of Proof and Experimental
Establishment (PXE). The successful trials were morale booster for the
Pune-based Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE) of DRDO which
conducted the tests.

Pinaka, which has
undergone several tough tests since 1995, has been inducted into the armed
forces and the trials were conducted with some improvements in the system. The
unguided rocket system has been developed to neutralise large areas with rapid
salvos.

The older version
of the rocket system has a strike range of 40 km while its advanced version can
strike a target beyond 55 km and is capable of acting as a
force-multiplier.It has been developed
to supplement artillery guns. The system can be operated in four modes -
autonomous, stand-alone, remote and manual.

The rocket
launcher can fire 12 rockets with 1.2 tonne of high explosives within 44
seconds and destroy a target area of 3.9 sq km at a time. The quick reaction
time and high rate of fire of the system gives an edge to the Army during a
low-intensity conflict situation.

This rocket
system’s capability to incorporate several types of warheads made it deadly for
the enemy as it could even destroy solid structures and bunkers.

On August 7, two
rounds of second generation Pinaka rocket were test-fired from a multi-barrel
rocket launcher which had failed to provide the result as expected by the
mission team. The rockets reportedly could not cover the expected distance and
some of their sub-systems too did not function properly.

However, in July
similar trials of the Pinaka Mark-II version from Chandhan area in Pokhran
field firing range of Rajasthan were stated as successful by the DRDO. The
trials were conducted by the DRDO and Indian Army.

A day after the
killing of two Indian Army Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs) in South Sudan's
Jonglei province, newer details surrounding the camp attack have emerged which
have painted a rather disturbing picture of not just the specific attack per se
but the intensity of the civil war which is tearing up the world's newest
nation.

According to
sources in the Ministry of Defence (MoD), a complete post-event assessment has
revealed the attack on Akobo camp of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan
(UNMISS) was a devastating one. So much so that the Indian Army detachment in
Akobo had to not only implement a temporary pull out and withdraw from the
Akobo base but has also lost 'heavy equipment' which generally refers to
weapons like mortars, heavy machine guns and rocket launchers and suffered
damages to own weapons.

The internal
assessment has revealed that a mob of nearly 2000 people attacked the Akobo
camp as a fallout to the UNMISS & Indian Army sheltering 36 members of the
Dinka tribe yesterday, in keeping with the mandate of the mission. In the
ensuing attack, the 36-member detachment of the Indian Army, which had sought
reinforcement was overwhelmed by the mob which swamped the camp.

"A helicopter
had indeed been activated which had onboard one officer and six men to
reinforce Akobo. And at Akobo a BMP (infantry combat vehicle) was launched to
secure the helipad for landing and simultaneously the mob attacked. Many of
them even had weapons on them," said a source.

It was also
revealed that the mob, which was seeking the 36 Dinka tribe members, fired at
the shelter-seekers and ransacked the camp. "These members who attacked us
were largely from the Lou Neur tribe and they were successful in dragging away
the Dinka tribesmen out of the camp," added the source.

At the end of the
attack, Subedar Dharmesh Sangwan (8 Rajputana Rifles) and Subedar Kumar Pal
Singh (Army Medical Corps) were dead and Naik Sahabul Mandal was left seriously
injured. In addition it was told that troops still trapped in Dinka were being
evacuated by helicopters and being moved to Malakal. "A search will be
carried out soon with the local army unit there to ascertain our losses,"
it was mentioned.

The mortal remains
of the dead JCOs, both of whom belong to Haryana had reached Juba by the time
of this publication. Additionally, it was being planned that their mortal
remains would be flown into Delhi by December 22.

What is fuelling
the violence?

The failed coup of
December 16 attempted by the ex-Vice President Riek Machar (belonging to the
Lou Nuer tribe) against the current President Salva Kiir (from the Dinka tribe)
has effectively caused a split in the South Sudanese Army which has dealt a
severe blow to efforts at restoring peace amidst growing ethnic killings.
Unrest has been reported from 14 sites inside the country and United Nations
Security Council (UNSC) too has convened an emergency meeting. Firing was reported
in cities of Juba, Bor and Pibor as a result.